Threat to Crewe manufacturing job losses as ‘tax haven’ row grows

A Crewe engineering company, which wants to axe 62 jobs, has not been ‘frank and open’ about the true state of its finances, Unite, the country’s largest union, said today (Monday 13 August).

Unite is balloting for industrial action and considering potential legal action at Trac Precision Machining Ltd over its plans for compulsory redundancies and a lack of meaningful consultation.

The company is part of Chromalloy Holdings Ltd and Unite commissioned a report into the Chromalloy set-up as it does not believe that the financial situation at Crewe is as dire as that painted by the management.

The report by independent research organisation Acuity Analysis said of Chromalloy United Kingdom: “A substantial flow of money, generated by the workforce in the UK, is leaving the company every year and being offshored to Bermuda where the tax liability for foreign owned firms is nil.”

The report added: “Since the acquisition of the Trac Group by Chromalloy, in 2013, the amount paid in loan interest payments to Chromalloy Bermuda has increased substantially, and this has had an impact on the company’s performance.”

A total of 280 employees, including engineers, machinists and wielders, are employed at Crewe, the vast majority of which are Unite members.

Unite regional officer Ross Quinn said: “The company is claiming that a reduction in orders from engineering giant GE is the reason for the proposed redundancies.

“We asked the Crewe management for an independent financial report. They refused, so we commissioned our own, which appears to reveal the parent company Chromalloy is siphoning off cash to Bermuda which is a tax haven.

“Our argument is that this cash should be reinvested in highly skilled manufacturing jobs in the UK and that the management at Crewe has been less than frank and open on the true financial situation.

“We don’t believe that there is any financial reason that any jobs should be lost at Crewe and call on the management to talk to the union in a transparent and constructive fashion - otherwise the prospect of industrial action is a very real prospect.

“Unite is placing Chromalloy on notice that we believe that it has failed to properly consult on these entirely unnecessary redundancies and the union will consider potential legal action to ensure that our members are treated fairly and legally.”

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